Morgan Hill
– Money to clean perchlorate from the South Valley underground
watertable moved a step closer to reality after the House of
Representatives passed a bill Tuesday authorizing $25 million for
such purposes.
The bill, HR 4459, was sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy,
who represents Morgan Hill and San Martin.
Morgan Hill – Money to clean perchlorate from the South Valley underground watertable moved a step closer to reality after the House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday authorizing $25 million for such purposes.
The bill, HR 4459, was sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, who represents Morgan Hill and San Martin. It now goes to the Senate and, if passed, on to the president’s desk. If the president signs it, the bill will become law. Also, Congress still must appropriate the funds.
No timetable has been set for hearings in the Senate.
“Citizens of Santa Clara (County) have suffered long enough – today is their day,” Pombo said in a statement issued shortly after the bill received unanimous support from his colleagues.
The money, if appropriated, would be administered by the Secretary of the Interior and can be used for cleanup and remediation of projects begun after Jan. 1, 2000, but not for projects taking more than 10 years to complete. Cleanup of the South Valley aquifer could cost as much as $150 million, according to Santa Clara Valley Water District officials.
The federal government will pay 65 percent, and state and local agencies – or private entities – will pay 35 percent.
In the South Valley case, “private entities” could include Olin Corp. whose 40-year manufacture of safety flares in south Morgan Hill polluted the groundwater with perchlorate.
“This issue isn’t a blame-game,” Pombo said. “But we know perchlorate is present in the groundwater, people are suffering and we need to get it cleaned up. That’s what I care about – protecting the people I represent.”
The Pombo bill was initially criticized for letting Olin off the hook by requiring the 35 percent match of taxpayer and ratepayer money. Including “private entities” will cast the net wider and allow Olin to pay its part.
While Olin Corp. provided free bottled water for several months after January 2003, when the chemical was found to have spread from Morgan Hill to north Gilroy, the Santa Clara Valley Water District now covers those costs.
And while Olin paid to replace Morgan Hill’s Tennant well, closed because of the contamination, the company has refused to help the city with expenses relating to contamination in several other city wells north of Tennant Avenue. As a result, Morgan Hill residents are now paying a 5 percent surcharge on their water bills to ease the budget squeeze perchlorate has imposed on the city.
Treatment systems for the dozens of private wells, mostly in east San Martin, have been under study.
Olin representatives will issue a report on point of entry systems at a Perchlorate Community Advisory Group meeting Thursday, 7-9pm at the San Martin Lions Club, 12415 Murphy Ave.
